The present invention relates to monitoring systems for accumulating data at a remote location and transmitting the data to a central location. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus of automatically monitoring broadcast band listening habits wherein the data collected by such monitoring is transmitted periodically to a central data collection station. In one application, the radio listening habits and preferences of many panelists is monitored, with the data collected and transmitted daily to a central data collection station. Another application is to monitor the TV viewing habits by using the invention disclosed herein to monitor the audio portion of such television viewership.
Prior art systems have relied upon distribution of diaries to random households wherein respondents were asked to report their radio listening habits in the diaries and then return the diaries to the research company. An alternative prior art system required coincidental telephone or in-person interviews to determine which radio or television station the respondent was then currently receiving. A still further prior art system relied upon interviewing consumers to determine which radio station they listened to during the previous day. Each of these are manual systems and have inherent shortcomings. They rely upon the memory and veracity of the participant responding to the survey. Such manual systems also tend to be labor intensive and thus have high operating costs.
More modern, automated systems have been utilized, particularly in television viewership monitoring. Such systems have typically included hardware connection to the television receiver, again resulting in cost and difficulty in installing and operating such surveys.